Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici

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Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici

Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici (* 1360 ; † 1429 ) was a Florentine merchant and banker who had made a large fortune through skillful business relationships. He was the nephew of the banker Vieri di Cambio de 'Medici and father of Lorenzo and Cosimo de' Medici .

Giovanni came from a relatively insignificant branch of the Medici family, the Bicci (de 'Medici). They were largely spared by the loss of political prestige as a result of the Ciompi uprising and the subsequent Salvestro de 'Medici dictatorship .

He started out as a small moneylender in 1380 and then joined the Roman branch of his uncle's bank, Vieri de 'Medici, where he later became a minority partner and ran the branch in Rome under the name Vieri e Giovanni de' Medici in Roma . With the help of a small fortune from his marriage to Piccarda Bueri, Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici bought the branch in Rome in 1393. In 1397, two years after the death of his uncle, he moved his activities to Florence and founded the Banco Medici together with the Bardi family . This formed the basis of the later rise of the Medici to one of the most powerful families of that time in Europe. Giovanni di Bicci de 'Medici subsequently rose to one of the most important and influential people, thanks in part to his services to the papal finances. In 1420 he left the management and the property to his sons Lorenzo and Cosimo de 'Medici. After his death, Cosimo expanded the Medici's position of power.

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